UAE ready to take on greater security burden in Middle East - minister

LONDON - 26 July 2018: The United Arab Emirates is ready to take on more of the security burden in the Middle East because it can no longer rely on military operations by allies the United States and Britain, UAE minister Anwar Gargash will say on Thursday.

"We are ready to take up more of the burden of security in our own neighbourhood," Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, was due to say according to an advance copy of a speech in London.

"We know that we can no longer rely on the United States, or the United Kingdom, to lead such military operations."

The UAE is concerned about divergence between Western powers over the future of relations with Iran, and sees the approach taken by the United States as favourable to European attempts to rescue a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme.

"We hope that United States pressure on Iran will bring it back to the negotiating table for an agreement wider than the JCPOA (the nuclear deal): one that addresses Iran’s ballistic missiles and regional meddling," Gargash will say at the Policy Exchange think tank event.